SIENA, ITALY, Sunday, March 27, 2011 — We drove to Siena today, a town beloved for its central, crescent-shaped, sloping piazza, its fine cathedral and Medieval and Renaisssance art and architecture. It was Sunday, so many shops and restaurants were closed, but it was still too busy for Will, who declared he like Piena (aka Pienza) better than Sienza.

It wasn’t the only mixing up to be had. We think he’s been cured of it now, but Rick had been crashing all the women’s restrooms (“What does Donne mean, honey?”). And my favorite, which was yesterday after we heard the Benedictine friars singing Gregorian chant at the abbey of Sant’ Antimo, “So honey, what kind of Buddhists were those?” I’m sure I’ve done plenty of mixing up myself — I’m just too clueless to know exactly what…. But I guess that’s what throwing yourself into another culture does. (Like I called them monks earlier, when apparently they are called friars because they are from a mendicant order, not cloistered, but feel free to correct me on that.)

While we were Siena, Rick and Will climbed the 14th-century Torre di Mangia (or Eater’s tower), which at 102 meters is apparently one of the tallest secular towers in Italy. It was about 500-steps of claustrophobic hell — especially for someone afraid of heights, like me — and just the thought of it gave me a panic attack.

So I went to the museum next door in the Palazzo Pubblico, while the boys braved the climb. It was apparently so narrow in places Rick’s shoulders hit both sides of the stairwell — and even Rick (who is not afraid of heights) said he got a shaky, vertigo feeling at the top. I was happy with my choice, and the chance to see the 14th-century fresco “Good Government/Bad Government” by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The colors popped, and it gave you a wonderful view of Siena 600 years ago. A real treat.

Finally, we had some pasta and pizza and a celebratory glass of Brunello wine and headed back to the castle for our last night in Tuscany. We have one more full day in Italy, with a stop at Tivoli on Monday. We are sad the trip is coming to an end, but as Rick would say about himself, “That cat’s had it!”